


Under Neon Loneliness

by Sandrine Shaw (Sandrine)



Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV), The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: (Depending on Whose Timeline You Look At), F/M, M/M, Post-Crisis on Infinite Earth, Pre-OT3, Pre-Oculus, Prompt Fic, Speedster Iris West, Time Travel, Tumblr Ask Box Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-09
Updated: 2019-11-09
Packaged: 2021-01-26 07:47:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,704
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21370642
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sandrine/pseuds/Sandrine%20Shaw
Summary: The overhead lights flicker again, and that bad feeling Leonard had since he first saw the bright neon fade in and out intensifies.
Relationships: Barry Allen/Iris West, Barry Allen/Leonard Snart, Barry Allen/Leonard Snart/Iris West, Leonard Snart/Iris West
Comments: 12
Kudos: 93





	Under Neon Loneliness

**Author's Note:**

  * For [SophiaCatherine](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SophiaCatherine/gifts).

> The lovely [SophiaCatherine](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SophiaCatherine) prompted "Under Neon Loneliness" and Coldwestallen on Tumblr, and it... ran a bit away from me. /o\
> 
> Also, while this is set in the future where Crisis has already happened, I didn't have a chance yet to catch up on S6 so far, so if anything from those first few episodes contradicts this... let's chalk it up to timeline shenanigans! :D

Leonard is about to win a game of cards against himself when the lights in his room flicker.

Curious. The lights on board of the Waverider _never_ flicker, not unless something's very wrong. To his knowledge, everything's just peachy right now. As much as it can be when you're hunting an immortal megalomaniac through time and always find yourself a frustrating step behind.

He waits a few beats, keenly listening to the soft background buzz of electric currents and machinery, but nothing about it seems off. 

"Gideon? What's going on?"

When no response comes for a few seconds too long, he sits up straighter, instantly on alert, ready to grab his gun and investigate. But then Gideon speaks, in the same soft, dulcet tones as ever. 

"It looks like you have a visitor, Mr. Snart," she announces. 

Before he has a chance to speculate on who might be visiting him on a time ship (visiting _him_ on a _time ship_ – two unlikely occasions wrapped into one) or ask Gideon for details, the door slides open.

Iris West steps into his room. Except she doesn't _step_; she rushes forward in a flurry of purple lightning before coming to a standstill. The suit she's wearing clings to her form in all the right places, and normally Leonard would take a moment to appreciate that, but he's a little distracted by Iris's presence on the Waverider and her new... skillset. The last time he's seen her, barely two weeks ago, she was at S.T.A.R. Labs, wearing a shaky smile like an armor and trusting him to help save her life. And unless he's very much mistaken, she was not quite as _fast_ back then. 

He hides his surprise and the suspicion that accompanies it behind a scowl. "Two speedster visits in a month? I should be flattered." 

Her smile is even tighter than it used to be, barely there and gone again. "It's been a bit longer than a month for me, Snart."

Makes sense. If Barry from 2017 could find Leonard in 1892, it stands to reason that the Iris standing in front of him now could be from whenever. She doesn't look much older than she used to, just tired and harder in a way only time and tragedy do to a person.

"And you came all the way to 2166 to find me. Hm. Tell me, Iris, does Barry know you're here?"

She flinches, electric discharge buzzing over her body in tiny arcs. The overhead lights flicker again, and that bad feeling Leonard had since he first saw the bright neon fade in and out intensifies. 

"Barry's... not around," Iris says, stumbling over the words with the hesitation of someone who hates to speak in euphemisms but can't bring herself to face the finality of the truth.

It hits Leonard like Mick's fists landing the first throw down in the brig, and it feels like the air has been punched out of him. The Flash always seemed invincible, not just because of those extraordinary powers of his, but also because Barry seemed to catch lucky break after lucky break, winning impossible fights that he should have lost. It figures that this kind of luck would run out one day, but damn if Leonard hadn't counted on not being around long enough to see it. And he wouldn't have been, he assumes, if the normal course of time had been preserved. He almost resents Iris for settling him with the knowledge and making him face the fact that, despite his claim to the contrary, there are in fact strings on him he can't deny or cut off.

He looks away and takes a few seconds to regain his composure, pushing aside the startling sting of grief and focusing on the facts with the practiced ease of decades of not letting his emotions get the better of him. At some point in the future, Barry's gone. But he's not gone now, and the future, as Leonard's well aware, is always in flux. If they can stop Savage from ruling Earth in 2166, as Hunter believes they can, then they can also stop whatever's happening to Barry.

His eyes flitter back to Iris, furtively measuring her. "So you've taken over the Flash's job now? Not sure if purple's your color."

It's a lie. He's not even sure if there's any color out there that wouldn't suit Iris.

"A gift from the Speed Force." There's no humor in her smile, a sharp bitterness that reminds him of that night in the living room of the West house: _Everyone in this room had a rough childhood. Get over it._ He'd liked her ballsiness back then, perhaps because the anger that swung in her tone was familiar. That anger's back now, a hundred fold. "Like it could ever make up for what it cost me. And if it thinks I'm gonna play by the rules, it's got another thing coming."

"Rulebreaking. I like it." Leonard pushes himself to his feet and takes a few steps towards her, pleased when she doesn't back away. "Doesn't explain why you're here. Why come to me?"

The way Iris averts her gaze and literally bristles with excess energy, it's clear to see that she's flustered, holding her ground by sheer stubbornness. It appeals to Leonard, but at the same time it awakens the desire to push her more, just to see what she's going to do. 

He closes the last few feet of distance between them, standing so close that they're almost touching.

But then she looks up at him, lovely brown eyes flashing with lightning, and dammit, he played himself there, didn't he? He's always had a thing for smarts and beauty and determination, and Iris is checking all those boxes in a similar, if not quite the same way Barry does. Add the intrigue of the forbidden (because she's _Barry's_, even now) and—Well. 

"Because I know you get that the ends justify the means sometimes," she tells him, and he wonders if she knows that this kind of argument is like catnip to him. "You're not gonna tell me to just sit back and accept it. And I know you care about Barry."

Appealing to his soft spot for the Flash? That's bold. She's either impressively underhanded or overplaying her hand, and he can't decide which one it is.

"_Do_ you now?" He puts a frostiness into his tone that's usually enough to make anyone who isn't Lisa or Mick back off. 

Or Iris, apparently, because she doesn't waver. She keeps holding his gaze, and for the first time that she's come here, there's humor sparkling in those soft, dark eyes of hers. "Uh-huh. You and Barry, you used to be all... wrapped up in each other. I used to think it was just some kind of one-upmanship. But then when you broke into Dad's house at Christmas, I saw the way you looked at him. And how he looked at you. I was a little jealous."

She huffs out a laugh, but her eyes are wet and—_Fuck_, this right here is why he doesn't allow himself to get too close to annoyingly sincere superheroes who wear their emotions on their sleeves and their gorgeous, spunky girlfriends.

He feels his mouth twist into a grimace instead of the scoffing smile he's aiming for. "Hell of a time to tell me that."

They're standing too close. He should probably put some distance between them, now that it's clear that whatever half-hearted idea he had to unnerve her isn't going to work. But he can feel the electricity she's radiating, familiar in a way he misses even if he would never admit it, and he's never been good at resisting temptation.

"Was there ever a right time?" She's still smiling, but the determination from earlier is creeping back into her voice. "When Barry came to find you—When he dropped you back where he got you from, he wasn't going to mess with the timeline. He was always so careful, after Flashpoint. But I'm done being careful. I'm done losing people I care about, or watching the people I love lose people. We're going to save you, and then we'll get Barry back, and if the Speed Force or whoever has a problem with that, it'll wish it never got in my way."

As if the Waverider is reacting to her anger, the lights in the room go out for three seconds before they flicker back on. 

Three seconds without cold neon hues filling the space between them, just the two of them in the dark, breathing the same air. He doesn't need to see her to feel her tension, to know that her anger is making her reckless in ways he needs to curb no matter how much they appeal to his baser instincts.

"Iris." He doesn't like initiating physical contact, not for its own sake when it's not meant to lead anywhere. But like Barry, Iris seems the type to react positively to it, so Leonard reaches out and puts his palm against the side of her neck above the collar or her suit, her pulse rabbit fast against his skin. "I know you speedsters are always _rushing_ into things. But if you wanna do this right, you gotta _slow down_."

She looks like she's going to argue, so he forestalls her protest, holding up a hand. "I'm not saying no. But we need to make a plan. Step one, remember? And as much as Hunter and our ragtag crew like to wing it, 'fuck up the timeline until we fix things' is not a good plan."

"Okay," she says with a jerky nod. Her teeth gnaw on her lower lip, and he couldn't look away if he tried. "I just—"

"I know."

He can feel her hand against his neck, mirroring his own gesture, and he can't for the life of him remember when she put it there, those sharp instincts of his that usually scream at being touched silent for once.

"Let's get Barry back," she says quietly. 

She pulls him down towards her, a kiss like static shock, and the room goes dark.

End.


End file.
